Syed Babar, MD
Nephrology · Augusta, GANPI 1841513975
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $6,934 of the $8,029 with a category attached, or 86.4%. It is spread thinly across 30 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 17.6% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $2,287 and has fallen 71.1% since, to $662 in 2025.
Across 349 payments — averaging $23.00 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novo Nordisk AS$1K
- Amgen$980
- AstraZeneca$883
- Bayer$635
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$444
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$415
- plus $3K from 24 others
Across 25 payments — averaging $2210.15 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Omeros Corporation$32K
- Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc.$15K
- EMD Serono, Inc.$9K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,01413%
- Food & beverage$6,93486%
- Education$801%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Novo Nordisk AS | 4 | $1,414 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 45 | $980 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 52 | $883 |
| Bayer | 33 | $635 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 21 | $444 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 25 | $415 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 20 | $388 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 19 | $319 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 18 | $292 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 16 | $259 |
| GSK | 15 | $250 |
| Novartis | 11 | $222 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 12 | $215 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 11 | $196 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 1 | $142 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 7 | $138 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 6 | $137 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 6 | $117 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 5 | $104 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $94 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 5 | $73 |
| Novo Nordisk | 3 | $64 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $50 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $42 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 2 | $34 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $30 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 2 | $29 |
| Cormedix Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $18 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
How this compares
$8,029 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 388 nephrology providers in Georgia.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| AuryxiaFerric Citrate | 36 | $53,899 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 15 | $23,214 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 66 | $12,330 |
| ProsolParenteral Amino Acid 20% No.1 | 43 | $6,336 |
| Calcium Acetate | 12 | $653 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 29 | $398 |
| Carvedilol | 16 | $222 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 39 | $211 |
| Lisinopril | 13 | $121 |
| Allopurinol | 23 | $102 |
| Furosemide | 19 | $87 |
| Prednisone | 16 | $24 |
| Alprazolam | 12 | $7 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Akebia Therapeutics IncAuryxia | $117 | $53,89936 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 85th percentile of 388 nephrology providers in Georgia.
Other nephrology in Augusta
- Don WilliamsonAugusta$104K
- Barton BrezinaAugusta$47K
- Matthew DiamondAugusta$14K
- Laura MulloyAugusta$11K
- Muralidharan JagadeesanAugusta$8K
- Shameem BeighAugusta$7K
- Harold HubertAugusta$7K
- Devesh PatelAugusta$6K
- Sagar PanseMacon$542K
- Sheldon ShoreAtlanta$474K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.